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Twins Minor League Hitter of August 2014

As of Monday, minor league baseball is done for the 2014 regular season. Twins Daily will have a ton of minor league content throughout the offseason. Over the next few days, I’ll be posting the August award winners. Today, I’ll post the top hitters for the month before discussing the top starting pitchers and relievers in August. Next week, we’ll start discussing choices for the minor league players of the year.

In between, we’ll also continue reporting on the Twins affiliates in the playoffs. Rochester just missed, but ended with a very good season. The New Britain Rock Cats finished above .500. The Ft. Myers Miracle and Cedar Rapids Kernels will begin their playoff runs in the next couple of days. Elizabethton is already playing a must-win playoff game. Check out the minor league report to see what’s going on.

However, let’s get back to the topic at hand. Here are August’s top hitters in the Twins minor leagues, starting with some honorable mentions:

Yes, just 62 at bats, but that 1.120 OPS certainly stands out among the candidates. Minier was the big international signing in 2012 when the Twins inked him for $1.4 million. He spent 2013 in the GCL and after having shoulder surgery and switching positions, he returned to the GCL in 2014. The 18-year-old has tremendous power from both sides of the plate. This season, he has posted a .900 OPS from both sides of the plate. He will likely start the 2015 season in extended spring training, but there is some chance he could get to Cedar Rapids at some point in the season.

Garver has had a very strong season, certainly among the best in the organization. He has also been quite consistent throughout the year. He has hit for average, shown an ability to get on base and hit for a lot of power. The 23-year-old was the Twins 9th round pick just a year ago. He should move up to Ft. Myers next year and hopefully get a chance to jump up to New Britain at some point.

It’s been another frustrating season for Kepler. He missed a lot of time early in the year due to various injuries, and he did struggle when he did play. He’s now putting up some very solid numbers for the Miracle, including 31 extra- base hits in a pitchers league. He has certainly hit the ball with much more authority of late. The 21-year-old is on the 40-man roster and could spend another half-season with the Miracle. That said, his second half may put him in position to advance to New Britain right away.

Walker put together another strong month in August. He hit for average, had a very solid walk rate, and continued to mash the ball and drive in runs. He was the Twins 3rd round pick in 2012 out of Jacksonville. He has been a powerful run-producer wherever he has played. He has made some good strides in 2014. His power is legit. He’s still got work to do, but still just 23 years old, the organization can certainly be patient with him.

The Twins used their 33rd round pick, the 980th overall, on the versatile Trey Vavra. He had finished his senior season at Florida Southern, a Division II school, where he led the team in hits, doubles, home runs and RBI. His coach there was Lance Niekro, former big leaguer and son of former Twins pitcher Joe Niekro. He had played six different positions in college. Since signing, he has been a doubles machine in Elizabethton. In just 50 games, he knocked twenty two-baggers and drove in 34 runs. The 22-year-old primarily played 1B, but he also played over a dozen games in left field. He had also had the game-winning hit in game one of the Appy League playoffs on Saturday night.

Vavra is the son of Twins 3B coach, Joe, and the brother of Cedar Rapids infielder Tanner Vavra. Younger brother Terrin is a high school senior in Wisconsin.

There you have it. The top 5 hitters in the Twins system for the month of August. Now feel free to debate. What do you think? Please feel free to discuss.

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Not to discount Vavra, but how does the ranking get determined? I'd have put Minier, Walker, and Garver in some order for 1-3. Vavra did well, but not as well as those 3, and he's quite a bit older for his league.

I'd go Minier for number 1 based on the numbers, but it is the GCL so you could get me to change my mind.

Vavra looks like a pretty good pick for round 33. It is tough to hit .340 for a month no matter what league you are in. I probably couldn't hit .340 in a softball league so that is impressive. These days however for the positions he plays would like to see a couple of home runs in those numbers. So that knocks him down IMO.

I like Garvers numbers as well especially OBP. With good plate discipline he could be a fast mover.

Always have a soft spot for ABW but I think #2 is where he belongs here.

Minier's numbers were incredible, but usually I'm looking for 80+ at bats for the month which would be about 3 per game for the team. In the GCL, a lot of times play is more evenly split. It's hard to rank the performance of a guy in 62 at bats versus 105.

I also acknowledge that I have a thing for doubles in the minor leagues. Doubles generally mean the guy is making real solid contact and hitting gaps. With experience, gappers could become homers. We shall see.

I'm comfortable with my rankings, but the purpose of these are to recognize the good performances and to discuss players.

Walker is only 22 BTW.The crazy part is he is listed as the number #2 hitter for the month of August by Twins Daily and he gets placed 7th in the line up in tonights playoff game.Lead your league in HRs - RBI - Total Bases while placing 1st on your team in Hits and 2nd in Runs Scored and your manager places you 7th in the most importaqnt game of the year. I'm sorry Seth - As a whole this kid gets no love from the organization.7th?I'm talking 7th?